The Rose and the Fox
by Good stories here
Summary: So many plans were derailed, so many lives where saved and lost. All of it started with a floating blue box and a smiling fox. Things can always get weirder.
1. Chapter 1

[Welcome to the World of Remnant]

Ruby blinked.

Then she blinked a second time just to make sure she hadn't gone crazy. A third blink confirmed that yes, a floating blue text box just greeted her to her own planet.

"What is going on?" Ruby said to herself as she moved her head around to see if the box would follow her moments, it did.

"Can I touch it?" Ruby reached out to poke the floating blue mystery. Much to her surprise, the text box was solid but vanished the moment Ruby took her finger off it.

[Would you like to start the tutorial?]

[Yes/No]

"Okay, sure let's go with the tutorial." Ruby pressed the Yes button with some hesitation, the only reason why she pressed it at all actual was because things couldn't get any weirder than a blue floating box. What happened next taught Ruby that it can always get weirder, ALWAYS.

"WHOO! It's great to know this worked!" Ruby jumped in surprise from the loud and very sudden addition of a new voice.

"Opps, sorry about that Miss Rose I didn't mean to scare you." Ruby looked around her room frantically only to stop once she spotted a white fox now sitting on her bed.

"Aw hell, please don't scream." The fox pleaded.

"AHHH!" Ruby screamed.

"OWWWW!" The fox put its paws over its ears to try and block out some of the noise, once Ruby ran out of breath for screaming. She was surprise to find that no one had run into her room yet.

"Ow, please don't do that again. These ears are so, so sensitive to high pitch noises." The little fox looked a bit dazed from the loud noise Ruby just put it through.

"What's going on? How do you know my name?" Ruby's voice trembled a little while asking these questions. The fox shook its head one last time before it looked up at Ruby with a surprisingly expressive face, for a fox at least.

"You're in the Tutorial Miss Rose and I know your name because I've seen the story of your adventures." The fox said as it started to swish its tail back and forth out of what Ruby assumed was habit. After a brief moment of silence, the fox heaved a sigh as it saw that Ruby was probably still rather confused.

"Still not making any sense? That's fair, let's continue with the tutorial and maybe some of this will start to click." The fox proceeded to curl its tail and then, much to Ruby's surprise, pulled out a game menu with its paws. The new menu was blue like the last one but contained all the things Ruby had come to associate with the RPGs her sister played sometimes.

"How did you do that?" Ruby said with some of her previous fear and surprise turning into curiosity. Ruby reached out to touch the highlighted part of the menu and was rewarded with a small ding noise, the menu then showed Ruby a picture of her with a bunch of numbers on the side.

"This is your status menu Miss Rose, from here you can view your level, combat abilities, and even the skills you've picked up along the way." The fox stated with pride evident in its voice, Ruby let out a small 'Oh'. She started to fiddle with the status menu, just to see what else was there, which lead to the most important discovery so far. Ruby couldn't help but giggle as she spun the model of herself around and around.

"Would you like to play with the spinning model for a bit more or would you like to see the rest of the tutorial?" The amused tone of the fox broke Ruby from her giggle fit and she gave the fox a curious stare.

"Ok but do you mind if I ask a quick question?" This seemed to catch the fox off guard momentarily before it sat just a little bit straighter. Most likely trying to make itself look important or knowledgeable but, it just reminded Ruby of when Zewi had finished learning a new trick and was demanding a treat as a reward.

"Okay sure, I'm in no hurry to finish this thing any time soon, what's on your mind Miss Rose?" The fox said casually in attempt to help Ruby relax, or so he could relax, it's one of the two.

"What is all this? Also why didn't Dad and Yang come running in when I screamed before?" All Ruby got in reply from the fox was a small 'Hm' as it tapped the menu and brought up a rather different screen.

"This should help explain a bit, what you're seeing here is the journal menu. Any info you or I learn gets sent here for safe keeping, I've put a little something together about what's happening at the moment if you want to take a look." The fox stretched and proceeded to lie down as he said this, earning a less than amused look from Ruby before she tapped on the highlighted part of the current menu.

'Dear Miss Rose, in this little pocket of info is a basic run down of the current situation. You've been given a gift from a spirit (That's me by the way) that allows you to interact with world around you in the same way you would a video game. This comes with many perks including limited space time manipulation, which is why your family hasn't come barging into your room if you did scream and cause me no small amount of pain.' After reading that last part Ruby couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle at what she did to the fox.

'Hopefully that'll have answered some basic questions and you can finish the tutorial in a much timelier manner. This has been an info dump from the White Fox, Bye-Bye.' As Ruby closed the message, she noticed the fox seemed to be falling asleep on her bed.

"Hey!" Which Ruby quickly corrected, the fox jumped a bit before it stretched its body once more before it looked at Ruby.

"Alright, we're almost done here. Up next is your equipment menu." With a tap of its tail, the menu screen gained a new highlighted area on the screen.

"From here you can choose your weapon, clothes, and even abilities. Almost explains itself, no?" The fox said with a cheeky look, at least Ruby thought it looked cheeky, hard to tell with all that fur. Ruby nodded her head but a nagging thought came to her just as she was about to tell the little animal(?) that she was ready to end the tutorial.

"I think I've got a good idea about how all this works but can you finally tell me why you're doing this? You said something early about reading a story about me and, well, umm…" Ruby trailed off slightly at the end but the fox decided to answer anyway.

"Do you really want to skip to that part? I mean there's still an item menu you can look at." Ruby's unimpressed looked told the fox all it needed to know about that suggestion. Eventually the fox sighed again as it closed the floating windows with a flick of its tail.

"Fine let's talk shop, honestly I didn't want to do this in the first place Miss Rose but due to recent circumstances, I need your help. A friend of mine is doing something really, really, REALLY stupid and you were the best person I could think of for this big old mess." The fox's ears drooped as it talked, making Ruby internally sque at the cute sight and ponder at what the fox meant.

"Okay so what is this friend of yours doing?" The fox grumbled something under its breath in response to her question, causing the young girl to grow even more suspicious of the so-called spirit.

"I can't really tell you but… let's put it this way, he's basically doing the stupid equivalent of toying with a really big bomb he thinks he knows how to defuse but he actually doesn't." Ruby felt her face go blank at this, after a few moments of trying to figure out what to say next, the fox spoke again and saved Ruby the effort and potential embarrassment.

"It's actually worse than what I just described but yeah, I need your help and I need it bad." The fox begged which started a mini mental war inside Ruby. On one hand, THIS WAS SO COOL! With this power she could become the toughest, fastest, best… bestest huntress ever! The other part of Ruby's mind that wasn't totally convinced by the talking fox's vague explanations was worrying over whether or not this thing was even telling the truth.

So Ruby decide there was only one smart thing someone should do in this situation, she was going to ask politely if it was telling the truth. Wait why is it smirking at her?

"You are very expressive when you're deep in thought, has anyone told you that before?." The fox had a big grin on its face. It couldn't read her mind but Ruby was pretty sure it didn't need to by the looks of things.

"I'll do you a solid and forget what just happened but I'm guessing you want to find out if I'm telling the truth or not. Because for all you know, I could be a lying liar who gave you this little power for an evil purpose that will end with all the puppies being kicked." The smug smirk on the fox irked Ruby to say the least. Before she could try to form a witty retort, the fox continued.

"So it's a good thing I have some proof I can show you." For the first time, the fox flashed a smile that wouldn't look out of place on a cartoon villain.

Ding~

[New Request: Down the Rabbit Hole]

"Whoa! This has your face on it… Can I change it?" The fox performed its equivalent of placing its hands over its heart, gasping in mock sadness.

"Miss Rose! Are you saying you don't like my face that much?" The fox continued its fake emotional breakdown as Ruby ignored it and instead tapped on the request. A new box opened up underneath the request with some new information.

-The fox claims to have evidence eh? Claiming that it's totally on your side eh? Well YOU can be the judge that!

Eh?

-150 EXP

-50 lien

[Accept?/Deny?]

"So are you in? Because even if you turn this down, you'll still get to keep the ability to interact with world like it's a video game. You don't really have any reason to accept this request of mine but please, at least hear me out on this." The fox had moved to foot of the bedroom door, waving its tail to and fro, fro and to, waiting for Ruby's answer. A heavy silence filled the room for what seemed to be a dragged out minute, and then Ruby spoke.

"All right, I'll have a look at this evidence and decide from there if you get to stick around. So now if you don't mind, could you please get out of my room?" The fox stared at Ruby for a moment before it started to giggle. Ruining what Ruby had thought to be a serious moment.

"HA!hahaha~ Sorry but that's how you finish that sentence, really?" The fox wheezed out between his bouts of raspy laughter.

"Hey! It's something anyone else would do!" Ruby's denial must have been weak and seemed to only add to the fox's amusement. So Ruby decided to throw one of her nearby plushies at it, the following squawk that came from the fox as the toy entered its mouth brought a smile of satisfaction to Ruby's face.

The fox quickly spat the toy back out along with any leftover flavours it brought. After the fox was done trying clean its tongue of cotton, it looked over at Ruby with an amused grin forming on its face.

"I didn't expect that to happen, well played Miss Rose. I think if we stick together we'll get along just fine." Ruby could tell that little display of amusement and admiration was the most genuine the fox had been with her, while she still had mixed feelings. It was hard for Ruby to deny that she didn't find the fox's offer and situation to be just that little bit intriguing.

"Alright, when you're ready to go just head outside and I'll guide you to my evidence. We've got all day so take your time, which now that I think about it. We still have some time left for the last part of the tutorial!" The sound of party poppers rang out and Ruby was certain some holographic confetti appeared behind the fox.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a speedy version, making friends and deepening your bounds with them will help teach you skills you can use in and out of combat. Also it's a great way for someone as shy and socially awkward as you to actually get out there and see the world for a change." The fox the said last part a little too quickly for Ruby to process normally. She didn't get a chance to finish processing it either, as the fox decided to leap back onto her bed, to the windowsill and make a final quip before leaving.

"Alright then, I'll see you later Miss Rose and don't worry about finding me. I'll know when you're ready to go by way of 'You-Remembering-to-accept-the-request'. So until then Miss Rose Bye-Bye!" With a flourish of the tail and a bounce of the paws, the fox leapt out the window and into the wild. Also a rather loud noise went off as well.

CLANG~!

"Wah!" Ruby did not expect there to be a loud noise, she also did not expect to fall off her bed because she jumped a little too much in surprise. This time, her dad and sister came running to help her. Ruby was positive that it was the fox's fault.

After breakfast, where her sister and dad asked questions so loaded that they might as well have been guns, Ruby managed to get away from home with the help of Zwei.

'I walked Zwei this morning Ruby.' Yang had her arms crossed and an eyebrow cocked as she said this.

'He's demanding more walks! Look, he's restless! Zwei needs this!' Zwei then helpfully added to Ruby's argument by waiting at the front door with a leash and collar.

"Arf!"

"Like we agreed, I'll give you some of my dinner tonight." Ruby said in a not so quiet whisper.

"Arf!" Zwei happily agreed to Ruby's bribe as the pair walked down the bush trail. After a few minutes, Ruby cheeked her surroundings to see if there was anyone nearby. Once Ruby decided the cost was clear, she undid Zwei's collar and tried to remember how to get the menu back up to accept the request.

"Um… Open! Nothing, maybe… Start! Not that either." Progress was minimal so far, as Ruby posed dramatically and yelled random words. Zwei took the time to sit down, enjoy the forest smell, and watch Ruby flail about until she finally yelled.

"ARGH! JUST OPEN THE STUPID MENU ALREADY!" Ruby was finally met with the wonderful sound of the menu opening.

Ding~!

"Huh? Was that how I was supposed to open it?" Ruby asked nobody in particular, though Zwei seemed to have an opinion or two.

"Arf" Which, even for those not familiar with the canine tongue, was a blatant form of sass. Not wanting to acknowledge that her dog just sassed her, Ruby tried to play it off as best she could.

"Well I thought it was going to be something more than just saying Open Menu, okay?" Ruby's retort fell flat against Zwei's counter argument.

Zwei stared at her with a slight tilt of the head that seemed to question Ruby's brain factions. Ruby turned away from Zwei at that point, if she ignored Zwei then it meant she didn't just lose an argument against her pet dog.

After a bit of fiddling with the menu, Ruby managed to find the request in the Journal Menu and quickly pressed the 'Accept' button.

"Well that was quick." The sudden addition of the fox's voice made Ruby jump a little. Turning around to see the fox sitting on a nearby tree branch grinning with amusement just made Ruby want to stomp her feet in anger, so she did.

"Don't do that! It's not nice!" Ruby pointed accusingly at the fox, which seemed to only make its grin that little bit bigger and annoying.

"I won't make a promise I can't keep but, you're right. Let's get to my evidence so we can get the search for my friend started! Follow me Miss Rose!" The Fox hopped off the branch and landed with a solid Thump. Shooting the pair one last cocky grin, it gestured with its tail to follow along into the forest.

Minutes passed by in silence as Ruby and Zwei followed the smug little fox. With little to do besides talk to either her dog or the fox, Ruby found herself getting lost in thought.

'Agh, this is taking forever~! I wonder if we still have any cookies left back home, did I hang out the washing? Ack! I forgot and now Dad's going to go on and on and whyyyyyyy.' It wasn't until Ruby saw that the fox had stopped walking and was looking at her with amusement and why was Zwei sitting beside him looking-

"I was totally paying attention, you can't prove anything." Ruby received an annoying grin from the fox while Zwei just replied with.

"Arf!" Ruby's embarrassment was short lived as the Fox chocked back a chuckle and gave Ruby a more serious look, even Zwei started to pay more attention with how sudden the change in demeanour was.

"This is it Miss Rose, the place where my friend formed that horrible plan of his and went off without me. Now at first glance this place doesn't look any different but that's because I don't leave shiny crystals sitting out and about in the open." Before the Fox could continue, Zwei brushed past it and wondered into a bush.

"Is that where you hide the crystal?" Ruby asked casually, the fox shook its head in response causing Ruby to groan slightly. With a throaty chuckle and a teasing grin, the fox leapt onto a nearby tree branch where it proceeded to make itself comfortable. Seeing the fox that had begged her to come walking all this way, only for it to start getting ready to take a nap of all things! Ruby started to point dramatically at the fox and was about to lay out one heck of a smack down but, the smug little thing interrupted her.

"Hold up, I'm not making you do all the work if that's what you're thinking. I left a marker around here so that way I could find where I stored that little memory crystal, I carved out a little diamond picture on a tree. Find the diamond and you find where I put the crystal which leads to, wait for the dramatic finish here, you getting the evidence to help prove my intentions!" The fox then threw out some more fake confetti and made the noise of the really long noise maker thing that's at every birthday party every. Now that she thought about it she didn't know what they were even called, weird.

"Arf! Arf!" Zwei's bark drew their attention back to the little corgi sitting next to a slightly pale looking tree, as Ruby looked up to the fox she saw what was beginning to become an all too familiar grin.

"Is that the tree you marked?" Ruby didn't like how the fox's grin grew wider once more while nodding its head.

"Sure is, by the way. Are you sure your dog isn't also a spirit because I'm pretty sure dogs aren't that smart." The fox said casually as it hoped down to the ground.

"I'm pretty sure most foxes don't talk either." Ruby then realised that quiet little remark wasn't so quiet, luckily the fox was the opposite of offended.

"Hah! Touché Miss Rose." Ruby puffed out her chest with pride at managing to verbally one up the smug fox, even if it was by accident. The smug little spirit jumped into the bush just beside the marked tree and came out with a crystal that had the number thirty carved onto it. There was brief pause as the fox just stared at the crystal before passing it to Ruby.

"This is the last video we made together, we travelled all over Remnant leaving these behind as check points for the return trip home… Just tap it twice to play the recording Miss Rose, I'll be over here until you're done if you don't mind." All the playful and mischievous energy that appeared to radiate off the spirit just disappeared while it walked away from Ruby and Zwei.

"Hey Zwei, could you do me a favour?" A quick glance at her dog told him all he needed to know about the favour. Zwei sent Ruby a quick nod and raced after the spirit, leaving the hooded girl by herself with the crystal. Seeing no reason to delay, Ruby tapped the centre of the crystal twice and watched with awe as she was suddenly enveloped in some sort of bubble.

Soft static filled the air as the surrounding area began to overlap with the crystal's recording. The fox flickered into sight, almost causing Ruby to jump in surprise but, after seeing the fox's tail extend, then disappear when it reached toward the bubble. It was clear this was merely a rather expansive recording.

"Alrighty then, crystal is up and running." The fox mumbled before taking its tail back and striking a pose.

"Hello future me! Or traveller who's collecting these for fun and if you are said traveller, Bugger off! This is private mate!" Ruby had stop herself from laughing at the fox's hammy acting, the fox suddenly calmed down again and started swishing its tail back and forth.

"Joking aside, you'll be happy to remember that we did it. We found the ride home and it's even in pretty good shape, give or a take a few rare parts of course. Granted you know this already future me but I guess I can indulge you as well nosy traveller." The fox started to grin as a voice rung out in the recording.

"We've discussed this! There is no traveller!" This only got a bout of raspy laughter from the fox as it called back.

"There totally is a nosy traveller and you can't prove otherwise! HAHAHA!" Its laughing fit was interrupted as the fox was smacked in the face by something that went by too fast for Ruby to properly identify. Another quick flash of static filled the area before the fox came back into sight.

"Anyway, just between me and you traveller-" The fox dodged the airborne object this time "My friend and I aren't from around here, in fact there's a whole bunch of people like us stuck in this world. You heard that right, world. We travelled dimensions just to taste your food!" Ruby's eyes went as wide as they could go and said what most would after hearing something like that.

"WHAT!?"

"Really mate?" The same voice from before shouted again.

"Yeah I guess that is a bit much huh? Still I think that's enough for you Traveller, I've updated you enough times in the past. Now remember future me, or is it future you?" Suddenly from the recorded bushes, a black and white cat strolled up to the fox with a serious expression that Ruby had never seen on a cat before.

"Hey do you mind if we pause the recording here?" The fox's demeanour shifted from hammy to serious in the second it took to turn around and look at the cat.

"Sure we can pause it here, what's up mate?" As the fox asked this, the cat became visibly uncomfortable.

"Listen I've been thinking about our place in this world." The fox raised an eyebrow at this but seemed to grow rather uncomfortable at what cat just said.

"Dude no, we talked about this before. We talked about this with everyone when it was being decided who was going to do what to get everyone home. This isn't our world, this is Remnant. The place filled with monsters, super things that might be from the time of this world's gods, and a bunch of other people we really shouldn't mess with." The fox looked ready to continue his rant when the cat cut him off.

"I know! Look I know we agreed to all that but this was before… The village." The area seemed to grow silent at this.

"Mate..." The fox let out a heavy sigh as the cat's stare got even more intense.

"Okay, okay, I get where you're coming from at least. What happened at the village was our fault, we didn't do all we could have and -"

"I want to stop Beacon from falling." The cat said cutting the fox off, it also caused Ruby to say for a second time.

"WHAAT!?" This was just as crazy to the fox as it was to Ruby it seemed.

"WHAT!? Dude that's crazy! Listen, if you try to stop that from going off. You'll probably hurt more people than you'll save." It was the first time Ruby heard the fox so panicked and flustered but she could do nothing more but watch in stunned silence.

"Actually I think I've got a way to stop it." The cat watched as the fox went from panic to a rather deceiving calm. The transition was jarring and if Ruby was being honest, a little creepy as well.

"Alright." The fox took a deep breath and started to grin. Its teeth looked just a little too sharp and the smile was too wide to be welcoming. Ruby thought she heard the cat gulp but she wasn't sure if it was really the cat or her making the sound unknowingly

"How do you plan to stop the Fall of Beacon." The fox became very still as it waited for its friend's plan, Ruby didn't like this one bit as it was very clear that the fox was very, VERY, angry.

"We take away the one person who made the plan possible in the first place. Without all those little illusions the plan would've been a complete bust." The cat sounded very sure of itself and the plan but the look on the fox's face said otherwise.

"First of all, that's barely even a plan. You've just told me what you want to do, not how you're going to do it. Second, if you take her out now it'll be murder plain and simple." Before the fox could continue, the cat held up a paw to interrupt politely… Sorta.

"I'll agree with the first point and I never said I was going to kill her." The fox leaned closer to the cat, its teeth sharpening to an unnatural degree and it even started to growl.

"Fine, so how are you going to take little miss illusion out of the picture? Because if you do this, that means it'll be harder to fix the machine. You're not forgetting the machine right? Because while I don't mind you trying help a world filled to the brim with heroes, I DO mind the fact you're about to ditch all those stranded people, all those stranded CHILDREN! Especially when we have a way to get them home!" The fox was breath heavily, it only seemed to realise that it had gone into a rant and backed away from the cat.

"I'm sorry, that was… Sorry." Ruby started to pull deeper into her hood, this didn't feel like something she should be watching but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to walk away.

"No it's alright, after all this time we've found our way back home and from you're point of view it looks like I'm about to jump ship. I get it, I really do get it but at the village… I realised that the people living in this world are real and, and we know what's going to happen to them and then what happened to the village is going to happen to an entire city! However, if we can convince one girl to change for the better, just one girl. Then I honestly believe we'll have left this world with something more than a passing fancy." The cat stood proud as it finished talking and Ruby felt a bit of admiration swelling for the cat's sense of justice but when she looked over to the fox. Ruby would admit later that she felt a little sad for what was going to happen next.

"Mitchell, it sounds like a good idea on paper but there are too many holes in this plan. In fact the biggest problem with this plan is assuming that you can change this girl for the better. Before you try to argue, let's list off all the things we know about this little gem of a murder. When we first met her, she assisted in a murder. When we learnt about her backstory, she agreed to a plan that would ruin hundreds of thousands of lives. Heck we can even get a good guess as to why she even did most of it, a powerful person pulled her from the streets and has an almost creepy admiration for said 'saviour' enough to go along with something that big and crazy. Is that someone you think you can change Mitch? Is that someone you think would listen?" The cat had its head lowered and seemed to refuse to meet the fox's gaze. The next few moments were silent until the cat let out a small.

"Yes… Because we also saw her regret her actions, I believe she can be convinced." The Fox didn't say a word but it assumed a much more hostile stance.

"This is crazy mate and you know it, I'm not going to let you put those kids lives on the line like this." The cat just gave the fox a sad smile in return.

"I know you won't but I can't let you stop me." A sudden Vroom! Sound echoed in the recording and to Ruby's shock. The fox look as if it was being crushed under a giant rock and try as it might, it couldn't break free of the invisible force. The cat gave the fox one last sad look before it ran off into the forest. Ruby watched in horror as the fox screamed in pain and had to endure what must have been five minutes of pure force crushing it. When it finally stopped, the fox didn't get up straight away, it got up with wobbly legs and when it took a step, the fox almost collapsed.

Watching the fox slowly limp toward the gem wasn't a pleasant sight for Ruby but when it finally reached the crystal, and by extension her, Ruby let out a sigh of relief. The bubble around her popped and sitting right in front of her was the fox, swishing its tail back and forth like always. Zwei was there too but he was busy chewing on a rather large stick not too far away from them.

"So Miss Rose, what's the verdict? Do you want to help me? Or would you rather I just leave you be?" The fox wasn't smiling, in fact it almost appeared emotionless, but Ruby knew better now. It was reaching out for help in a world that wasn't its own. The answer was so obvious to Ruby now, lives on the line, a friend in trouble, and a great chance to become the world's best huntress.

"I'll help you Mr… are you a mister? Now that I think about I don't even know your name?" The fox blinked at this, then it started to chuckle. Ruby only realised what was about to happen a few seconds too late to stop it.

"HA!Hahaha~! You couldn't tell I was a boy? That hilarious! H-how many women do you know with voices like mine?" The fox was banging it paw on the ground in what seemed like an attempt to gain some semblance of control back. It didn't make Ruby feel any better though.

"Y-you jerk! I was just being considerate okay!" Ruby then saw that Zwei was using both of his paws to cover his eyes. The sudden sound of coughing coming from the fox caught Ruby off guard for a moment before she went back to being angry.

"S-sorry about that Miss Rose, h-hehe no really I-I'll stop laughing now. I promise." Ruby was sceptical at first but the fox did visibly start to calm down after a moment or two.

"Right, back to my name… My name, ah bloody hell I just realised I can't use my name around you Miss Rose. Mitch would be on guard if you started saying my name just like that." Ruby frowned at this, from what she saw of this Mitchell cat. It would probably be very paranoid about the fox coming to hunt it down.

"Maybe if you tell me your full name, we could make a new name from it? Maybe?" It was a random idea but the fox didn't seem dismissive of it. In fact from what she could see, the fox was rather warming up to the idea.

"My full name… I never told him my full name!" The fox then started to dance wildly with its tail swishing much quicker than usual.

"I've got it Miss Rose, please call me James!" the now identified James announced with a toothy grin, Ruby smiled back and held out her hand to the smug little fox.

"Nice to meet you James… Are you sure you don't want to try my idea though." James chuckled as he shook her hand with his paw. A small blue box popped into existence at this action but Ruby quickly tapped it away with her free hand.

"I'm pretty sure James will do just fine Miss Rose, and congrats on finishing your first request." The sound of party poppers rang out in area, causing Ruby to jump in surprise and a blue box to appear in front of her as well.

Choosing to ignore the snickering coming from the fox, Ruby looked at the new box and was quite happy to see the results present.

~Request Complete~

Rewards:

-150 EXP

-50 lien

After tapping the little box away, Ruby felt a jolt of energy surge through her. It only lasted a moment but Ruby felt just a little bit better than she had felt this morning.

"So how did your first level up feel Miss Rose?" James asked without his usual smugness.

"A little weird actually, it was like I just got zapped by some dust but I feel better now rather than tingly." Despite herself, Ruby gave herself a pat down just to see if anything felt off. Seeing as nothing felt wrong, Ruby looked at the fox and gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright good to know, and speaking of knowing, which most certainly means growing. It's time for another tutorial!" James grin widen when Ruby let out a groan.

"Again? Really?" This just got a chuckle out of the fox before it took a pose that wouldn't look out of place on a teacher.

"Sorry but how I set up the levelling system is a bit different than most you've seen." Pulling the status screen up, Ruby leaned in a bit as the fox started talking.

"Alright, I'll skip the boring bits and tell you what's what. Your states determine what you can do and those same stats increase with level ups but here's the curve ball. I've included a bonus point system so you can boost your stats. Example, say you notice that your endurance is looking a little low compared to the rest of your stats. BOOM, apply the bonus points and you too can be slugged in the face with a metal pipe and keep on trucking." Ruby felt herself pale a bit at the example, James seemed to find this funny for some reason but Ruby didn't feel like finding out why.

"Now it's time to put theory to practise. Open up your status menu Miss Rose and you should see some arrows on your stat numbers. Also, you only get three bonus points per level up so make sure you plan ahead before you apply them, M'kay?" Ruby felt a little uneasy after hearing that, she was never the best when it came to strategy and management games, like Remnant: The Game. Sleep well little air force, you tried.

Focusing back on the menu at hand, Ruby looked over her stats and was honestly having trouble picking a stat to increase. After a few minutes of trying to choose, Ruby felt a small tug on her sleeve.

"Miss Rose, this is just an idea but why don't you wait a few levels before applying some points? That way you'll have a better idea of just what type of huntress you want to be and you'll have some bonus points to help with any weakness that might pop up along the way." Ruby immediately closed the status menu at the suggestion.

"Yep, let's go with that." Ruby was content, awesome powers, people to save, and a talking animal buddy. The day couldn't get any better than this! It could however get much, much worse.

"So how we going to convince your family to let me stay with you?" James said with a not so innocent grin and Ruby's good mood promptly shattered. Quite a few thoughts surged in Ruby's mind with the more prominent one's going along the lines of 'That stupid fox tricked me!' 'How is Zwei going to share with him?!' 'Dad's going to yell at me for bringing a fox home AND not hanging out the washing!'

It only took one last hysterical thought to send Ruby screaming.

'I WASHED THE REDS WITH THE WHITE CLOTHES!' Ruby fell to her knees in despair at her inevitable lecture while Zwei and James looked on with more worry than amusement.

"Should we do something to snap her out of it or-" James paused mid-sentence as Zwei hunkered down like a bomb was about to drop.

James quickly copied the canine and was glad that he did as Ruby let out a shrill scream of pure frustration. Even though he protected his ears much early than last time, James could still feel his ears ringing like no tomorrow.

"Ow! I deserved that, this was my karma coming full circle." James muttered to himself, he did feel a little better at the sight of a teen girl in a red hood jumping up and down muttering words like 'Fudging' and 'Doo Doo Head'. Still didn't change the fact that Ruby was marching over to him.

'Better take this one on the chin' James thought as he was picked up by the scruff of his neck.

"Don't. Do that. Again!" James blinked in surprise at the amount of firmness in Ruby's voice.

"Whoa… Uh… Sorry Miss Rose. I promise I won't spring something last minute on you again." James shot Ruby a nervous grin only to be unceremoniously dropped a few seconds later. Shaking any dust off his fur, James looked back at Ruby.

"Thank you for not throwing me I guess? Anyway it shouldn't be too hard to convince your family to let me stick around. I mean, I'm about as house trained as any pet is ever going to be." Zwei let out an audible growl at this.

"Next to him that is, the second most house trained pet." James looked at Zwei to see if had been appeased, he was.

"Oh boy I'm really in for a lecture when I get back. Although you might want to come up with a back up plan in case I can't convince Dad and Yang. There a little over protective at times." Ruby tried to hold back grimace as some embarrassing memories came to mind. Like the time Dad thought that a boy had crush on her, he didn't show up to school for three weeks and only came back after the principle gave her Dad an hour lecture on why he shouldn't threaten ten year olds.

"He still can't quite look me in the eye too." Ruby mumbled to herself, she broken out of her thoughts as Zwei nudged her leg causing her to look down at him.

"Oh right, I need to put the collar back on so we don't look suspicious." Once Ruby finished putting the collar on Zwei, Ruby felt a new weight on her shoulder. She shot James a look of displeasure, he grinned in return.

"What? it'll add to the story of how you couldn't get rid of me. Plus if you try to push me off I might fall onto Zwei who would then headbutt me back to you." James said with faux innocence, Ruby grumbled mean things under her breath about the stupid fox as she made her way back home. James let out a throaty chuckle at this and with a razor sharp smile said.

"Miss Rose, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Ruby couldn't help but groan.

 **Hm? Did you think this update was going to be for The Sword and the Blacksmith? Whoops~! That's next time, oh and don't worry. I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing for the plot! Am I lying? YES! What am I lying about? I'm not telling~!**

 **Until next time ladies and gentlemen, I hope you have a lovely hot chocolate on hand and some biscuits or cookies to dunk with your drink. BYE BYE**!


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby couldn't help but feel like she hadn't thought this situation through. Her Dad was giving her that ' _Ruby please stop_ ' face while her sister was looking torn between amused and wanting to give her one heck of a stern lecture. Which, in Ruby's opinion, was totally not her fault, nope not hers. It was most certainly all because of the grinning fox sitting on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure what I was expecting sis, I knew you were up to some form of mischief but I gotta say, I really didn't expect you to bring a fox home." James yipped unhelpfully as Yang gave both of them the ' _amused but not playing along look'_ that she had mastered long ago. Ruby tried not to look too guilty but she was pretty sure she was failing, time for plan B, Persuasion!

"Well I thought he was a lost pet." Ruby could feel the disbelief at her explanation for bringing the fox in.

"It doesn't have a collar." Ruby internally cried at her Dad's meddlesome logic.

"A pet that had lost it's collar!" Ruby added on with a paper thin attempt to save her story. Yang rewarded her attempt with a sigh of disappointment.

"Ruby it's clearly not even house trained." Tai was then surprised as the fox yipped again. Everyone in the room, minus Zwei, was now staring at James. Who for his part was still sitting on Ruby's shoulder, tail swishing back and forth like always. It then hit Ruby as to what James was trying to do, he was playing along with her pet explanation!

"See! He's like Zwei! He's following the conversation, I bet you can even run him through some basic tricks." James gave Ruby an unamused glance but quickly hopped down from her shoulder to the floor. Tai looked at James with suspicion evident in his eyes but cleared his throat in an attempt to keep James attention.

"Alright, sit." James sat, which caused Yang to raise a curious eyebrow.

"Laydown?" Tai said with some incredulity, James complied. Once James was laying down on his belly, Yang walked over to the fox with a contemplative look.

"Rollover." James let out an unamused sound but did as Yang had asked anyway. Tai looked back to Ruby who was now puffing out her chest in pride. Shaking his head at his daughter's somewhat silly pose, he looked back to James and started to rub his chin in thought.

"Well you might be right that this fox is house trained, and you might even be right in that it's a lost pet." Ruby pumped her fist in the air slightly but then remembered that her family was watching her at the moment.

"But." Ruby felt a brief surge of panic arise as Tai stressed that dreaded (although admittedly funny) word.

"It still can't stay." Ruby felt like a rug had been pulled out from her feet, the feeling only got worse as Tai continued.

"There are probably already some missing pet posters hung around town Ruby. We'll head to the markets later and see if anyone recognises the little guy." Tai finished with a tone of finality but he could almost hear the little question Ruby was bound to ask next.

"And if no one recognises him?" Ruby said with a pout and some watery eyes for added cuteness.

"Then he can stay for the night and we'll print some posters of our own." Tai almost rolled his eyes as he heard Ruby whisper out an excited ' _yes!_ ' Shaking his head at his daughter's excitement, Tai turned his gaze back to James who had gone back to sitting up and was swishing his tail back and forth.

"So what should we call ol foxy while its staying over here?" Yang crouched down and put her fist up to James nose to show she meant no harm, he bopped his paw onto her knuckles instead. This earned him a surprised look from the blonde fighter who then raised her other hand for a high five, James responded appropriately.

Ruby pretended not to giggle at this as she faked thinking over the question before saying.

"I feel like James would be a good name." Ruby heard James yip happily at this, though Yang and Tai gave Ruby unsure looks.

"I dunno, I'm thinking maybe something snow related would be good. Right little guy?" Yang suggested cheerily but was surprised again as James made a dismissive sound and turned his head away from her.

"Don't like the snow huh? Or maybe you were offended that Yang called you a boy?" As soon Tai said this, James give him a look that told him he was an idiot. Ruby tried to stifle a giggle as James sassed both her Sister and Dad.

"Well from the look of things, foxy likes your name best Sis. You do like to be called James right?" James yipped in confirmation. Yang nodded at him before looking back at Ruby.

"So where did you find James anyway? Surely he would be able to find his way back home if he's as smart as this." The question caused Ruby to pause briefly before she answered.

"I found him in the forest, up on a tree branch." Ruby didn't quite mumble out the answer but the worried glance James shot her told how risky what she just said was.

"That changes things I think." Tai said with a contemplative look. Ruby and James screamed internally at this.

"Ruby I think you might have found an abandoned pet. There still might be some missing posters up but that's seeming a little less likely now." Ruby had to fight the urge to sigh in relief as her Dad continued to think the situation over.

"Well… I still think we should go to the markets to see if anyone knows the little guy." Tai then gave Ruby a very stern look. Ruby felt her heart start to pound again while James tried to make sure his tail swishing didn't change speed.

"If we can't find his owner, or worse, that he was abounded. YOU are taking care of him, I'm not cleaning up after him and it'll be up to YOU to feed him properly. Got it?" Tai finished in his serious Dad voice, the one he used when Ruby was in trouble… Or when Uncle Qrow was about to say something she wasn't supposed to hear.

"I-I got it, James is my responsibility." Ruby even threw in a salute to show how much she ' _got it_ '. Yang then put a reassuring hand on Ruby's shoulder and gave her an understanding look.

"Alright Dad, I think Rubes has got the idea." Yang shot Tai a cheeky grin that caused to roll him eyes but he was smiling none the less. "How about we show James around the house. Sound like fun little guy." Yang grinned as James let out another happy ' _Yip!_ ' The two sisters, plus James, made their way out of the living room and up the stairs.

"Well I guess the only thing left is to see if you have a problem with this Zwei." Tai wasn't too surprised when Zwei gave him a content yawn as an answer. Seeing as the girls where probably going to do their own thing once Yang was done with the tour of the house. Tai pulled out his Scroll to make a start on the missing pet poster. Goodness knows the girls weren't going to make it.

The tour of the house was a quick affair that seemed to end when Yang brought James to Ruby's room.

"And this is where you'll probably be sleeping for a little bit, if we don't find your owner that is." Yang said in a faux professional voice, James started to sniff around Ruby's room before he arrived at a corner and plonked his butt down. Yang shrugged her shoulders at this and turned to leave.

"Alright sis, I'll leave him to you. We'll probably be heading out soon so don't get too relaxed, okay?" Yang said with a knowing grin, Ruby puffed up her checks at Yang's teasing but didn't respond back otherwise. After a quick chuckle at her sister's expense, Yang wondered back to her room. Ruby closed her bedroom door and let out a sigh of relief.

"Not gonna lie, that was kinda risky Ms Rose but hey, whatever works." James got up and stretched before making his way over to Ruby.

"So while we're waiting, I gotta asked. What message popped up when you and I shook hands?" James said with a slight tilt of the head. Ruby internally winced at the question, although it must've not been as internal as she thought, judging by the unimpressed look James was levelling at her.

"You didn't even read it, did you?" James sighed as he said this, Ruby felt very tempted to toss another plushie at him. After a brief moment of convincing herself ' _That no, throwing toys at him would not make the situation better_ ' Ruby kicked off her boots and opened up the game menu to look for anything new or glowly.

"Hey James, is there anything on here to show me past messages?" Ruby didn't really expect much but then James jumped up onto her shoulder and started to look at the menu. A few seconds later James was pointing his tail at the Journal part of the menu.

"I did put in a message tracker so you could look back at any messages you couldn't read in the heat of battle. I didn't think you need to use it so quickly though." James was smiling condescendingly as he said this. Ruby tossed him onto her bed for his sass, he just laughed after landing. Annoying fox.

A few quick taps later, Ruby found the message log. There wasn't much in the log, with the main bulk of it being from the tutorial. Two swipes later, Ruby saw the last message she closed and what she saw made look at James in confusion.

"Um… I hate to ask but why does it say 'You and James have created a bond'?" Ruby felt fairly justified in making sure nothing weird had happened between them. James didn't even blink at this and took up his usual stance of tail swishing.

"Because we have formed a bond of sorts haven't we? I wouldn't call of us friends yet but we've agreed to work with each other." James had an almost tired look on him as he explained. Ruby thought it over and actually found herself agreeing.

"That kinda of makes sense I guess, does that mean I can see the level of my bond with my family then?" James nodded in response.

"Yep, actually I'm fairly curious myself. I designed this feature to help with team based combat but I guess it can also help with trust issues now that I think about it." James said as he hopped back onto to Ruby's shoulder. Grunting in annoyance at the sudden weight, Ruby started to search for anything relating to the feature in the menu.

"Ah! There it is Miss Rose, just below your Information Tab." Sure enough, there was a part of the Journal menu labelled _Bonds_. What was there certainly surprised the pair.

 _Zwei the Dog- Bond Level 6_

 _Yang Xiao Long- Bond Level 4_

 _Tai Xiao Long- Bond Level 4_

 _Qrow Branwin- Bond Level 3_

 _James the Fox- Bond Level 1_

"That's actually… Quiet surprising." James said slowly before he hopped off Ruby's shoulder. He didn't need to look at her face to tell that she was shocked.

"Miss Rose… Are you okay? Maybe you were expecting the numbers to be higher but… They're still your family. So please don't feel down." The pleading in his voice brought Ruby out of her stupor slightly but the most she could manage was flopping down on her bed.

"Too late." Ruby mumbled out. James was having none of it as he rushed to Ruby's head and swatted her with his tail a few times.

"Hey hey hey! I mean it Miss Rose! You've known these people your whole life. Can you really tell me that they barely care for you?" James breathed a sigh of relief when Ruby replied with a small ' _I guess..._ '

"You don't have to guess anything Miss Rose, in fact it tells me something very interesting. Those low numbers still equal a loving family that you can rely on. Now image what it'll be like when you raise those numbers?" Ruby sat back up slowly as James said this. Looking noticeably calmer than before.

"Yeah, you know what? You're right!" Ruby faced James with a smile.

"Thanks James, you're not so bad I guess." Any good will Ruby was feeling towards the fox was suddenly axed as James merely sighed.

"Your welcome but I just didn't want you to become all mopy. We're not that friendly yet." It was then that Ruby noticed a ting of embarrassment in his voice.

' _Huh, he sucks at accepting praise._ ' Ruby tried not to chuckle at the thought. Pulling out her Scroll to check the time and maybe play a game or two.

"Say Miss Rose? Do you mind showing me how Scrolls work? I've seen them all over the place but I haven't gotten the chance to use one yet." Ruby felt herself blink at the request.

"Really? You haven't used one yet?" James gave her a flat stare in response to this.

"I'm a fox Miss Rose." Ruby slapped her forehead. Yup, that would explain why he hadn't gotten to use one. She didn't exactly hand her Scroll over to Zwei when he wanted to use it and that goes doubly so for a fox going up to a stranger.

"Right that would make getting your hands on one trickery." After a quick wriggle around, Ruby leaned her Scroll up on a pillow so James could reach it. Time started to fly as James quickly grasped how to use the Scroll, which according to him was very similar to a device back in his home.

So when Ruby heard a knock on her door, she let a groan as she and James where playing a co-op game on her Scroll. Must've made for an interesting sight when Yang walked into the room, if her reaction to it was anything to go by.

"Hey Ruby! Dad's finished making James poster and… Are you two playing Grimm Fighters?" Yang watched as Ruby and James gave each other a quick look of uncertainty before Ruby answered with an equally uncertain.

"Yessss?" Ruby waited for Yang's response which was more 'surprise' than anything else.

"Well okay then, uh… Yeah Dad's finished the poster and we're about to go into town." Yang was once again caught off guard as James leapt off Ruby's bed before giving her a happy ' _Yip!_ ' Ruby was a bit less graceful getting off her bed but made up for it with speed as she quickly started to put her boots on.

Yang turned to look at James who looked back a second later.

"So you any good at Grimm Fighters?" Yang watched as James tilted his head to the side before letting out a low whining sound.

"Not that good yet huh? Have you tried switching which guns you use?" James gave her a curious humming sound in response. Yang had to take a second to figure out what that sound was meant to be.

"Right to switch guns you have to… Wait how were you even playing in the first place? You don't have thumbs." Yang saw James look down at his paws, then back up at Yang. A brief moment of silence passed before James let out a very confused howl. Yang didn't know whether to be impressed or befuddled at the fox somehow playing the game anyway.

"He uses his tail to act like a thumb." Ruby said as she finished buckling up her boots. James only confirmed her statement further by letting out an annoyed grown that Zwei sometimes made when either she or Ruby where about to do something very dumb.

"Oh… You actually fooled me there for a bit foxy. Well played." Yang earned herself a vulpine grin from the fox.

"Okay! I'm ready when you are Yang, let's go!" Ruby cheered as she all but strutted to the door. Yang didn't hide her smile as she let Ruby take the lead as they walked down stairs. Tai got up when he saw the girls coming. Zwei was already at the door, leash at the ready and everything.

"Alright, I've made most of the poster for the little guy. All I need to finish it is a good photo of him." Tai pulled out his Scroll but before he took the picture, he looked over at Ruby.

"And I'm not printing out the poster yet Ruby. We're going into town to see if anyone recognises James or if there any posters of him hanging around the place. So no trying to snatch my Scroll tonight, got it?" Tai shot Ruby a stern look that she had some trouble meeting.

"What? I wouldn't do that! Psh! That's like, the last thing I would try to do." Ruby tried to play off the fact that her plan was already thwarted. James chuckled throatily at Ruby's misfortune but quickly turned back to Tai. The moment the artificial sound of a camera shutter going off was the moment James hoped back onto Ruby's shoulder, despite her best efforts to prevent this.

"Argh! Get off of me already! You can walk by yourself!" Ruby yelled as she tried to get James off her. Tai came to the rescue a few seconds later, only to have James jump to his shoulders instead. Ruby glared at the smug looking fox who was grinning cheerily at her.

"You are a nimble fellow, I'll give you that but don't think I can't throw you off me. Because I will." James stared at Tai for a brief moment before hoping down to the floor, right next to Zwei. The fluffy pair looked back up at Tai.

"Alright, enough stalling you. Let's get going."

The walk to town was an uneventful one, Yang and Ruby were keeping a close eye on James but we're otherwise shooting the breeze. Tai had the easy job of keeping pace with Zwei, who only once needed to answer the call of nature. Once the family, plus one fox, cleared the forest path. The town was practically just a hop, skip and a jump away.

It was simple town all things considered. There were one or two parks scattered through out the town, family businesses almost out numbered the chain owned stores, and it was all connected by the rather large water fountain plaza. You ever get lost? Walk for a good couple of minutes and you would eventually hit the plaza. It's also where a number of people go whenever putting up posters.

"Alright little guy, let's see if we can find your mugshot anywhere around." Tai put on a fake police voice to try and sell the joke. James gave him a blank look in return before wandering over the water fountain.

"Yeah… I'm with the fox on this one Dad. That was forced." Yang looked visibly pain as she said this. Tai gave her a flat look in return.

"I don't think you have any right to comment, you're puns are way worse than my jokes." Ruby rolled her eyes as the two got into a small debate about who had the worse sense of humour. Wandering over to the water fountain with Zwei, James met the pair with a vulpine grin.

"We best get searching for my ' _ **Owner**_ '" James chuckled slightly as he said owner, Ruby shook her head at him.

"Yeah I guess, come on. Let's head over to the job wall, people sometimes put up missing pet requests there." Earning a happy Yip at her suggestion, the trio wandered over to the board. A couple of people where hanging around the bulletin board, ranging from young teen to young adult. Slipping into the small crowd was easy enough and, much to Ruby's silent relief, there wasn't a missing pet request up on the board at the moment.

James made a curious sound as he looked at the board.

' **So what's on offer for jobs?'** Ruby barely held back a shout of surprise as an orange message appeared in front of her. Shooting James a quick glare for that, Ruby started to read the more appealing part time jobs on offer.

 _Become a baker! Part time workers are needed for the morning and afternoon. Learn to cook better and have hands so dexterous that people will think you're using atlas tech!_

 _Everyone needs mail, and the mail needs you! Become a postman/woman and get some serious speed and_ _diligence training in your mornings!_

 _Pest Exterminator wanted! Creepy crawlies of all sorts are hiding in peoples houses! Test your courage and your_ _tracking skills by hunting down the problems in basements, attics, and more during the afternoon!_

Ruby scrunched up her nose at those jobs, and nothing else on the board looked manageable or was within her age range. James looked at her with a raised eyebrow before yiping at her.

' **These could be good for your character Miss Rose. Why don't you take the job flyers for later?'** Ruby groaned at the idea but took the three job flyers anyway. Once they where out of hearing range from the people at the board. Ruby shot an annoyed look at James.

"Why did you want me to take those job flyers? What I'm going to do with these?!" Ruby all but growled at James. The little smile he gave at this set off some alarm bells.

"Miss Rose, could you please open up your menu. I would like to show you something." James smile grew slightly bigger when Ruby grumbled in reply, but opened up the menu anyway. The world around them seemed to stop and turn to grey. Much to Ruby's surprise, Zwei wasn't effected like everyone else.

"I'll explain that later Miss Rose. For now, let's head into your Statues Menu." Ruby nodded and opened that part of the menu. The little model of her was still there, along with the number stats and the empty skill section.

"Alright, now here's the fun part. Please double tap the mini you Miss Rose." When Ruby did so, she was greeted with the picture of a rose bud. Along with an outline of a rose in full bloom, then her eyes spotted the words on the outside of each full bloom outline.

 _ **Courage- Getting There**_

 _ **Dexterity- Butter Fingers**_

 _ **Knowledge- Just Average**_

 _ **Kindness- Nice Enough**_

 _ **Empathy- Subtly? Nah!**_

 _ **Diligence- Impatient Child**_

Ruby turned a blithering look onto James who only grinned cheekily in return.

"Can't blame this one on me either Miss Rose, I set up the system to measure where those traits of yours where up to. It isn't faulty either Miss Rose, I spent a whole month working on this game system. I wouldn't have given it to you if it didn't work." James looked like he was going to say more but clammed up a second later.

"There you are! I'm guessing you went to the Job Board if those flyers are anything to go by." Yang walked on over to the trio with an easy going grin. Ruby did a quick scan for her Dad, who she found was talking to some local shop owners on the other side of the plaza. Ruby looked back to Yang and told her what she probably already knew.

"Yeah, no missing pet requests for James so far." Yang nodded at this before turning her gaze back to the job flyers in Ruby's hands.

"So you're looking to earn some extra pocket money, hey sis?" Yang's smile didn't falter when Ruby shrugged in reply.

"I'm thinking about it. I mean, I have to go back to school at the end of this month..." Ruby trailed off when she saw the small tinge of disappointment enter Yang's eyes.

"But until then I think it would be a great way to pass the time." The bright smile Yang gave her convinced Ruby that maybe getting a job wouldn't be that bad of a thing. She just had to ignore the smug smile James was sporting at the moment. Although Zwei made her feel better again when he head butted James.

"That's a great idea! Tell you what, I'll even read through the flyers with you and I can see if any of my friends can give you a recommendation for the job you want." Yang had pulled Ruby closer by the shoulder as she said this. Ruby smiled awkwardly at this but didn't push away.

"Seriously though, Dad's going to be thrilled at this." The slight teasing in Yang's voice had completely disappeared and was replaced with pride.

"Thanks Yang." Ruby said in a quite but happy voice. Once Yang had broken up the sort-of-hug, she pointed Ruby towards some of the streets where some of her school friends had put up posters recently. Once Yang was out of ear shot, Ruby looked back to James who was trying his best to look innocent.

"Did you plan that?" James snorted at her question.

"Nope! I do remember how my family reacted when I went out of my way to get a job. It was about the same as yours." Ruby smiled at that, it wasn't quite a complement but it was genuine. A comfortable silence settled over the trio, as they spent the afternoon searching for a poster that they knew didn't exist.

The walk home was slightly chatterer than Ruby expected it to be, Tai was basically forcing some work advice onto her. A lot of which she suspected applied to his time as a fulltime Hunter than any of the job's she was looking at.

"Also pay attention to how you treat people, you don't want anyone getting the wrong idea." Definitely his time as a hunter. While Tai was pleasantly surprised at her trying to get a job, he was also worrying about how she was going to behave at work. So her she was at the dinner table, letting her Dad vent his worries while Yang took her turn at making dinner.

"And if any boy or girl starts to do something your not comfortable with, you can call me and I'll straighten them out." Ruby felt herself blink at the somewhat casual offer for violence. Probably best to nip that one in the bud.

"Thanks for that Dad but I'll be fine, okay. I'm not planning on taking any jobs outside of patch, so you can always visit me at work." Ruby held back a sigh after seeing the subtle release tension in her Dad. Crisis averted.

"Dinners ready!" Yang called out as she added some last minute items to the soup she prepared. Catching a wiff of the soup, Ruby could already tell it was going to be a chicken soup that was going to have some lemony broth and vegetables floating about. Two scopes later, she had gotten herself a nice sized bowl of soup.

The soup was nice, if not a bit too lemony, and Ruby decided that seconds would be necessary. As she was serving herself another bowl, she could just make out Yang and Tai whispering something to each other. The moment she turned around from getting more soup, they went back to chatting normally.

Weird.

Dinner went by pretty quickly after that, it was when Ruby was about to lay down for bed that James spoke up again.

"Would you like to know what they were talking about?" James leapt up onto the end of the bed but didn't sit himself down. Ruby though about the offer for a moment before shaking her head and sliding under the blanket.

"I'm sort of tempted to know but… Well, Yang and Dad aren't fighting so it can't be anything too serious." Ruby fluffed her pillow a bit before laying her head down. James started to make himself comfortable as well, curling himself up into a small fluffy ball.

"I do hope you pick a job soon Miss Rose, I can't pass the time as easily as I used to." Ruby ignored him as he said this and closed her eyes…

She then had a curious dream where Yang and herself were Junior Detectives. Solving crimes and looking fine, it ended just as they were about to confront a mob boss.

Ruby woke that morning feeling more refreshed than usual, which she suspected was because of James. Letting out a rather yawn, Ruby shuffled her way to a clothes draw, grabbed the set of clothes she could feel, and shuffled her way out of the room.

Ruby could tell she beat Yang to the shower this morning, which meant she got some more hot water! Score!

The steam raising from the shower is _Wonderful~_ Maybe a few more minutes in the shower wouldn't be too bad…

' _Hmm… Not today.'_ Deciding to be nice a leave her sister a bit more extra hot water. A little smiley sun appeared over her head for a quick second before disappearing. After changing into some clothes, Ruby walked back to her room.

James opened one sleepy eye to look at her when she walked back into the room. He moaned slightly as he uncurled out of a ball and began to stretch his body. After stretching like a cat, James turned to greet Ruby.

"Good morning Miss Rose. How was your sleep?" James fought through a yawn as he said this.

"Pretty good actually. Plus I'm feeling really refreshed! Is this because of the game powers?" Ruby watched as James nodded with a sleepy grin.

"Yep, it's nothing too special. This is your home and because you feel safe at home, you recover just that little bit better. The game system just turns up that effect up to nine." James was looking fully awake by now, with his tail doing it's usual thing. Once he saw that Ruby wasn't going to ask him anymore questions, James pulled out what looked to be his own menu.

"Oh? You have a menu too?" Ruby scooched on over to James.

"Yep! I was going to tell you yesterday that I tested everything on myself. It's why I called it a gift in the first place." Ruby nodded in understanding at this, and got a good look at James menu. It had all the same features expect James had the background set to white. James tapped his Statues menu with his tail.

"Hm… Looks like I really messed up Miss Rose." James slouched slightly as he looked at his Menu.

"How so? Everything looks pretty normal, oh! You're even level two like me." Ruby went to touch James menu to look at his social stats. Only to find her going through the floating screen.

"Heh, sorry but I decide it wouldn't be a good thing to let other people mess with menus that aren't theirs. Back to the problem at hand Miss Rose. Do you remember in the recording, something about me talking about leaving behind recorded journals or something similar." Ruby thought back to the recording.

"Yeah, I think you said something like that at the beginning. What does that have to do with your problem?" James sighed and mumbled something under his breath.

"Well Miss Rose, do you think someone who travelled all over Remnant would only be level two?" Ruby stared at James with her jaw hanging open.

"Oh." Ruby declared.

"Oh indeed. I knew I felt more tired each time I tried to make the game system but, I didn't expect to drained to next to nothing. Oh well, guess I'll be training right alongside you Miss Rose." James said with wry smile although Ruby thought it looked slightly bitter as well. After that, James closed his menu and hopped off the bed and made his way to the door.

Ruby wasn't all that good with social stuff, but it was clear, even to her. That James wasn't exactly happy with losing what must have been a good deal of strength. Ruby frowned as she thought on the situation, her frowned grew slightly when she realised that there wasn't a whole lot she could do.

' _Guess I'll just have to see if he's feeling better later.'_ Ruby sighed but started to head down stairs to make herself some breakfast. One cereal bowl of milk and sugar later, Ruby went back to her room and picked up the job flyers she had put on her desk. She then stared at them with some disdain, all three jobs were really boring in her opinion.

Although...

 _Become a baker! Part time workers are needed for the morning and afternoon. Learn to cook better and have hands so_ _ **dexterous**_ _that people will think you're using atlas tech!_

 _Everyone needs mail, and the mail needs you! Become a postman/woman and get some serious speed and_ _ **diligence training**_ _in your mornings!_

 _Pest Exterminator wanted! Creepy crawlies of all sorts are hiding in peoples houses! Test your_ _ **courage**_ _and your_ _tracking skills by hunting down the problems in basements, attics, and more during the afternoon!_

Ruby's eyes widened when she read through the flyers again. These jobs all related to that Personality menu!

"That sneaky fox..." Ruby mumbled under her breath. In hindsight, it made sense considering that he was willing to use that message box out in public but clammed up the moment Yang came around.

"Hey Sis!" Speak of the devil, Ruby turned around to greet her sister. Who from the looks of things had just finished getting changed and drying her hair. The smell of fruit scented shampoo wafted into the air.

"Oh, you're looking at the job flyers again! That's good, have you decided which one you're going to try out for?" Yang entered her sister's room with a bounce to her step before sitting down on her sister's bed. Ruby quickly joined her on the bed and the pair began to unfold the flyers further.

"Hm… All three jobs seem like they'd help you out a bit sis. How 'bout the baking job? You'll earn more money and you'll be able to wield weapons better later." Ruby shot her sister a doubtful look.

"And how is this job going to help me with weapons?" Ruby didn't bother to hide her feelings on the mater.

"Come on sis, while you might read weapon catalogues like I read comics. You're not exactly well known for your hand eye coordination." Yang ignored the annoyed look Ruby shot her.

"If you get this job, maybe you can learn some tricks that'll make handling things easier." Ruby frowned slightly at that, Yang did bring some good points. If she went with this job, wielding weapons would be a piece of cake! On the other hand…

"What about that Pest Exterminator one? I'll already have to work on my Dexterity at School next month. With this job I'll probably get better at tracking!" That and she'd be able to say that she was actively being braving than Yang, hunting pests in dark and cramped places. It'll be like practice for hunting.

"Somehow I doubt you're going to go for that job Rubes. It's always up to either me or Dad to take care of bugs bigger than a coin." This time Yang did wilt slightly under Ruby's glare. Chuckling nervously, Yang pointed at the last flyer.

"How about the Delivery job? It's only in the mornings and it suits you pretty well." Yang smiled as Ruby stared at her in confusion.

"Well this job was asking for Diligence right? You, my dear sister, are one of the most stubborn people I know." Ruby went silent at that. Each job was tempting in it's own right, what with the chance to either improve her Dexterity, Courage, or Diligence. That's when Ruby got an idea…

"What if I did all three jobs?" Ruby looked at Yang expectingly.

"No." Yang crossed her arms.

"No?" Yang sighed as her sister parroted what she said.

"Open up the flyers Ruby, you'll see what I mean." Yang watched on as Ruby did just that, and held back a chuckle as a look of realisation dawned on Ruby's face.

"These jobs happen on the same DAYS!" Ruby flopped back onto her bed and let out some pitiful groans of defeat. Yang rolled her eyes and patted her sister's head.

"There there Rubes. You still got three easy jobs to choose from right." Yang smiled ruefully as Ruby only groaned back in reply. That's when Yang spotted a little detail that might interest her sister.

"Hello~ What have we here." Yang purred as she held up two of the flyers in both hands. Ruby lifted her head slightly to see what her sister was doing.

"What is it Yang?" Ruby sat up when Yang turned to look at her with a mischievous smile.

"Ruby, you can't take on all three Jobs buttt~ You can take on these two at the same time." Yang flashed a toothy grin as she held up the two flyers in her hands. Ruby quickly read over the little adverts, a moment later. Ruby's eyes practically light up.

 _ **in your mornings!**_

 _ **during the afternoon!**_

"I can apply for the Delivery job! And the Pest job! Yeah! I'm going to be so fast and brave!" Ruby started to rumble on, faster and faster. Yang watch on with a smile as Ruby dived in head first to what must be one exciting day dream. A few minutes later, Yang hopped of the bed and made her way for the door.

"Looks like my work here is done. You better call those jobs up soon Ruby, they tend to get snatched up fast." Ruby nodded at the request and opened up her scroll, where she started to make a call. Yang chuckled slightly as she heard a loud ' **YES!** ' come from Ruby's room.

"Looks like she got the job." Yang sighed contently as she leaned back into the chair. Tai smiled good naturedly at Yang.

"No, it means she's got a job interview. Then she'll have a job." Tai resisted the urge to sigh as Yang shrugged with a carefree smile.

"Close enough I suppose." Yang's smile widened as she heard Ruby yell ' **Yeah! Two jobs!** ' Tai rolled his eyes at this while James put a paw over his face.

The day didn't contain much more fan fare after that, although Tai did insist on them going out to put up some more posters for James. Ruby got to take Zwei and James with her as she put up posters. No one was really having fun.

"Alright, just three more posters to put up… Argh! Why do we have to do this." Ruby groaned in boredom, they had been putting up posters up on any tree or pole they could find… or were allowed to put things up.

"Because your dad would find out if we didn't? Because your getting some pocket money from this… Because I don't have opposable thumbs." James smirked slightly as he said that last one. Ruby was not amused but started making her way to the next tree.

"Okay I know that last one doesn't count because you've been using your tail like an actual hand." Ruby frowned as James chuckled, yeah it would just be easier to ignore him. Zwei then head butted James, which made her smile slightly.

"Ow… Okay man you've made you're point. No more being a smart ass when your around." James slurred out as he stumbled slightly. Zwei gave him a doggy smile in return. The pair eventually sat in silence as Ruby pulled out another poster and began sticking it up on the tree.

"Only two left. Come on, there's some polls near the edge of town. We can put up the last two there." Ruby said with barely any enthusiasm, James and Zwei nodded and followed her. The walk wasn't all that long, Ruby sighed as she began to put up the poster.

That's when James heard something, a rustle of the bushes but not much more. Turning to look at the source, James only saw some bushes shaking a bit. Then a certain feeling hit him.

"Ruby." This caused her to pause, James never called her that. It was always Miss Rose when they talked.

"Ruby! We need to leave, right now!" Ruby looked at James and Zwei, who were now in very hostile stances. That's when it happened, a howl echoed through out the area, causing everyone in the area to look at the bushes. That howl was one any hunter knew, the cry of a Beowolf.

Panic erupted through the area with some alarms going off through the town. That's when the pack emerged started to run past them, one huge alpha and the rest were either medium or large. Ruby tried to start running, she really did, however overcoming the threat of death is never easy. Doubly so for someone who's not trained for it.

Ruby watched in frozen fear as one of the large beowolves strayed from the charging pack started to come right for her.

 _ **BOOM!**_

Ruby blinked as she tried to process the fact that a lighting bolt just struck the beowolf straight on the head. Only for it to shakily raise back up.

"Damn, I was hoping that would take it out, oh and Ruby. RUN!" James shout allowed Ruby to shake off the fear that froze her before. Taking off in dead sprint, Ruby dodged and weaved through a couple of the beowolves that hadn't yet made it into the town. James and Zwei were literally right behind Ruby, as were a couple of beowolves.

"I can see the plaza! We just need get out of this street! Dad and Yang will definitely be there! Wah!" Ruby screamed as some of the larger beowolves charged out an alley way further ahead. Zwei's head quickly swivelled about before before barking and dashing towards an alley on their right, Ruby and James followed without question, as did the beowolves surrounding them.

The alleyway was narrow and prevented a majority of the incoming grimm from pursuing, however some did manage to squeeze through. Another important detail of the alleyway was that it also had no other exits, a dead end in other words. Ruby hit the wall and looked back at the incoming grimm. Then she heard James mutter.

"Hope and a prayer." Ruby felt a jolt of panic rush through her as James said that, which was then replaced with a bit of hope as the fox's tail began to glow blue. A beam shot from the tip of James tail and created an ice wall. One which the grimm were left scratching against hopelessly. Ruby and James let loose a shaky breath of relief while Zwei just remained in a hostile stance.

"Alright, alright, we can get out of this. We've got time to figure this out." James said with a noticeable tremble. Ruby nodded at this but couldn't seem to look away from the ice wall. It explains why she didn't see the shining white light coming towards her from the side.

"Argh!" Ruby cried out as she felt a surge of what felt like electricity go through her. She then looked back James with a fierce glare.

"What the heck! I wasn't frozen in place like last time." Ruby yelled with a type of force she hadn't used before.

"That wasn't… To get your focus back." James said between larboard breaths.

"I just transferred… Some of my magic… To you." Ruby felt a different type of shock go through her. Before she even had time to question this James got into a pouncing pose.

"Listen, our best bet on getting out of here and to your Dad is to turn this death trap onto the grimm. You don't know any spells, which sucks because I only have about six left in me BUT!" James yelled the last part as he leapt onto a nearby barrel and then leapt again onto a roof top.

"You can make the magic I just gave you act like aura. I was going to give this little lesson later but we really don't have time! Grab Zwei and get up here, before that ice breaks!" James looked back at the ice wall nervously as some cracks started to form on it.

Ruby scooped Zwei up with a strength she could barely believe was hers, and made the same jumps James had, with only slightly less grace. When she land however, she felt just a little more of Zwei's weight in her arms then before.

"Alright, the grim won't be able to get us as easily up here because now THEY'RE stuck in that tight alleyway. If we can just make a few well placed jumps, then we'll back with your family in no time." That's when they heard the sound of tiles breaking, as a lone beowolf managed to scrambled up the wall. Most likely using it's brethren by accident to get a boost for it's jump.

"Change of plans, we beat this thing and THEN we make a break for the plaza." James growled as he focused his gaze on the lone grimm. Zwei stood beside Ruby and bared his teeth at the grimm who responded with his own snarl.

"James, I don't know how to fight..." Ruby tried not wince as James whipped his tail before returning to it's usual pace.

"Alright, I've got a dumb idea. Miss Rose, I'm going to give you a weapon made out of ice. It'll only last maybe five hits if we're lucky. Me and Zwei will distract it but YOU have to be the one to take it out. Now hit me, what weapon do you want." James said hastily as the Beowolf stalked closer, savouring what appeared to be defenceless prey. Ruby thought about her family and how they all fought. She couldn't brawl like Yang or Dad, but maybe just maybe.

"I'm so going to get yelled at for this." Ruby muttered before looking at James.

"Give me a scythe!" Ruby watch as James tail started to glow bright blue, and out of the light a handle appeared. Ruby grasped the ice and pulled out the rest of the weapon, which actually caused the Beowolf to pause. Ruby couldn't help but smirk seeing the monster hesitate like that.

"Alright, don't try anything fancy Miss Rose, just charge in and swipe down at it when Zwei and I knock it down." James said before shooting forward at the grimm with Zwei by his side. The Beowolf roared before meeting the charging animals with a swipe of it's claws.

Zwei ducked under one claw while James dodged around the other. The grimm didn't stop to face the pair but instead started to charge at Ruby, Zwei saw this and raced after the grimm and bit down on it's ankle, HARD.

The grimm howled in pain before it desperately tried to shake the small Corgie off it's hind leg. Seeing that the grimm was stalled for a moment, James aimed his tail at the beast before firing off a bolt of lighting which only stunned the beast momentarily.

James growled at this and charged at the grimm and chomped down onto the other hind leg with a wild ferocity. The Beowolf was now looking back and forth between the two little animal that were slowly crushing it's legs, which meant it was no longer focused on Ruby. The newly minted reaper gulped before hefting the scythe up.

"Alright, alright! ALRIGHT HERE WE GO!" Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs as she dashed towards the grimm. Slicing down with strength and speed that didn't belong to her, Ruby cleaved off the Beowolf's left arm. Ruby then instinctively used the ice scythe to block the wild swing from the Beowolf, sending Ruby flying back towards the edge of the roof.

James and Zwei panicked at the sight, slacking the grip they had on the beast. Feeling the pain lessen on it's rear legs, the Beowolf thrashed wildly and shook the two animals off. Zwei did a back flip and landed in a battle ready stance. James bounced twice before stopping just before the edge of the alleyway they were in before.

The Beowolf looked between the three, before turning it's attention back to Ruby. It received a super charged head from Zwei for it's trouble.

" **YERP!** "

The sound the Beowolf made as it bounced back down onto the rooftop was twisted, and gravelly. It growled as it struggled back up to it's feet, despite it's missing limb, just in time to see Zwei charging at it again. Perhaps it was that this grimm had already lost it's left arm, or maybe it was a Beowolf that survived enough fights to start thinking slightly. But instead of meeting the super Corgie's charge, it used it's sharp claws to toss a cloud of crushed concrete and broken tiles at Zwei.

Despite his best efforts, Zwei wasn't able to avoid the debris. While the shattered tiles merely bounced off Zwei harmlessly, the dust blocked his vision and caused Zwei to stall. The Beowolf started to dart forward, hoping to get a swipe in on it's temporarily blind foe.

 _C-c-creek~_

The beowolf looked back at it's hind legs once more, and saw the growing encasing of ice. It then saw one white fox with a glowing tail crackling with lightning.

"Die." James hissed out as he shot three lighting bolts in a row. Unlike the other times however, James was just aiming at the grimm's chest. The beast was barely clinging onto life at this point. Then Ruby got up, and was making her way towards the grimm, scythe in hand.

Standing just out of reach of the Beowolf, Ruby stared the beast down. Closing her eyes, Ruby took a few calming breaths. Ruby then lifted the scythe up and opened her eyes which now shone with a steely resolve. A whoosh of air followed the scythe as Ruby swiped down and beheaded the beast.

The body started to dissolve into shadowy particles, James walked over to Ruby before collapsing.

"Ha… You okay Miss Rose? No cuts or bruises? Or mental trauma?" James said with a noticeable slur in his voice.

"I'm fine… Ha… Just really… Really tired." Ruby got out between breaths, Zwei wondered over and nuzzled his head into Ruby's leg and was meet with head scratches.

"You were a good boy too Zwei." Ruby giggled as Zwei responded with a proud bark. She then turned her gaze to the scythe in her other hand. James saw this and groaned out.

"Oh, right. I've got it Miss Rose don't worry." The scythe shattered into a cold cloud of ice and quickly disperused. James groaned as he got back onto his feet and looked up at Ruby.

"Alright Miss Rose, I think we should skedaddle and get to the fountain plaza. I'm not exactly all that useful in a fight without my spells." James said as he wondered to the edge of the roof that lead to the plaza.

"That sounds good, oh actually. Before we do that, how long does this kinda aura last?" Ruby looked at her arms in slight disbelief.

"A good five hours or so provide you don't really do anything, maybe an hour tops if you use it for multiply fights and such. I'd say you've got a solid three hours left." James said as he waited just out of sight of sight from anyone down in the plaza. Ruby smiled in delight at this new found information and proceeded to scoop up Zwei in one arm before quickly running up to James to do the same with her free arm. Ruby then let out an excited 'whoop!' as she jumped down from the roof and ran towards the crowded fountain.

Eventually, the trio spotted Yang amongst the sea of people. Yang spotted the trio a few seconds later and rushed towards them, trapping Ruby in a tight hug. There were tears, some anger and shouting, then tears once more. A few hours pasted before the grimm were annihilated and, according to Tai, there was an Alpha in that pack which actually knew how to strategize.

Around evening, some medical aid and hunters came by from the main land. Both to help provide treatment to anyone hurt but to also scout the surrounding area for anymore grimm. By nightfall, everyone was allowed to leave the area. Some families stayed the night in the few hotels or inns available in the port town, the rest just went back to their homes.

Ruby's family where one of the few who stayed in a hotel that night, Yang told jokes, Tai ordered pizza. Zwei watched Ruby lose terribly at ' _Remnant The Game_ ' And James, well he fell asleep as soon as he found a soft pillow to claim as his. It was a night that contrasted the days events in the best possible way.

 **Well hello there~ What's up? I've been working and such, padding away at this in my spare time. Finally got some spare time to finish this chapter, I don't have a lot to say about without give away future spoilers. I will drop a hint by saying this is where you're going to start seeing some large gusts of butterfly wind. After all, James and Liam have been in Remnant for quite some time. No tell what might happen.**

 **Anyway, leave a review to let me know what you think about the story. Love it, hate it, or find it boring. It's all good.**

 **So until next time ladies and gentlemen, I hope you have a lovely hot chocolate on hand with some biscuits or cookies to dunk with your drink. BYE BYE!**


End file.
